The Rockford Files: The Lost Films

The Rockford Files: The Lost Films

By Jim Suva, Photos By Dan Wolfe

In March 1974, The Rockford Files pilot premiered. The show was picked up as a series and Mike Post and Peter Carpenter, renowned musicians and song writers, wanted to do a new style of title sequence for the show. Mike had come up with the theme song and wanted to match it to some photos of the streets of Los Angeles. He hired photographer, Dan Wolfe.

Dan used a long range camera and followed James Garner and Noah Beery around Los Angeles to get the photos needed for the title sequence used on the series opening. The idea was to get non-posed pictures. He wanted the images to look candid and natural.

The photos that were used are instantly recognizable as part of The Rockford Files. They capture Los Angeles in the 1970’s as a time capsule.

Fast forward a few decades. A gentleman named Richard Ivler contacted me to see if I was interested in purchasing several hundred film images from this photo shoot for The Rockford Files. I gladly purchased them from Richard, and have started converting them to digital pictures.

Richard is a big fan of The Rockford Files and got interested in photography because of the opening credits of each episode. He was 14 or 15 years old when he got his first Nikon F2 professional camera and a dark room. Then, in 1975, Richard was in high school and taking a photography class. His teacher had his former student, Dan Wolfe, come into class to do a presentation. Dan showed the class a 35 mm film featuring the opening credits of The Rockford Files. The presentation validated for Richard that he wanted to do more photography.

In the mid-1990s, Richard had a friend who knew Dan Wolfe. Dan was looking for someone to be an Administrator/General Manager to oversee his multiple companies. Richard met with Dan and they spent several hours talking. Richard was given the job, and spent 17 years working for Dan. It was a busy job, since Dan, who is a graduate of Art Center College and is a helicopter and fixed wing pilot, also owned Dan Wolfe Photography, Wolfe Air Aviation, Wolfe Burgers and Pasadena Production studios.

In 2011 Dan Wolfe bought the former Northrop/Grumman complex at Hawthorne Airport and moved his offices and airplane fleet to the offices and hangar. Dan was downsizing and getting rid of old awards, plaques, and files. Richard opened one cabinet and noticed two shopping bags full of rolls of film. Richard asked Dan what he wanted to do with them. Dan said to just trash them. Richard luckily took a look at the film on a light box, and it turned out they were all the outtakes from that original Rockford photo shoot.

Richard took them directly to his car trunk, thus saving the films for history. They would have been lost forever if it was not for Richard. Now it is my job to preserve and share these images with my fellow Rockford/Garner fans.  Here are a few of them.

 

     
James Garner shopping.
     

A number of people over the years have asked who this actress is with Jim?  We now know, Gayle Hunnicutt is this actress, who appeared with Jim in the opening credits.  Gayle had worked recently with Jim on the movie Marlowe.

     

Jim on the phone and exhausted in the Firebird.

   

Jim at the Laundromat.

       

Having fun at the Police Station.

       

Notice the Manufacturers license plate on the Firebird. This before they put on the 853 OKG plates.

       

Inside Rockford's Trailer.

          

          

       

Some of the pictures above you have seen on the internet, but I have added some of the other pictures associated with them.

I hope everyone enjoyed these historical photos.  I am always looking for items and stories to add to this blog and for my Rockford Collection.  If you have anything you think might be interesting, please contact me at: [email protected].

 

 

 

Comments

[Dav_oid]

Thanks a lot for the extra pictures. Interesting to see.
Also the background info. But who was the police sergeant? No don't try to find out, just kidding.
Great photos and the use of fade to give a sense of movement is very clever and effective. One of the best title sequences ever.

It is disappointing to see the original sequence changed in later seasons, as they didn't use the same quality of photos to match, and it looks haphazard (I.e. adding Becker/Davenport/Angle etc.).

[Jim Suva and The Suva Files]

Glad you liked the pictures. I have to agree with you on the later added pictures. They really don't fit with the originals.